The Amazing Story

John 10:22-39
2007.04.15
GBC evening worship

First, the Story of a People with No Story. Second, The Amazing Story. Third, The Good Shepherd. And fourth, Calvinism as a Nickname for the Amazing Story.

The Story of a People With No Story

Is anyone amazed anymore?

No. Not really. We’re not amazed by anything. In fact, we’re not only not amazed, we’re apathetic about what ought to amaze us. We are the culture of the unamazed and the apathetic.

And not ironically, so many people’s lives are empty, meaningless, and frustrated. It’s because the only thing they have to live for is themselves. And at the end of the day, living for oneself is not the fabulous life because no one is really that fabulous. It’s not a worthy cause. There is no bigger picture, no greater cause, and nothing amazes because life is no bigger than the mirror.

Of course, most people figure out that they’re not that fantastic somewhere along the line so they start searching for meaning elsewhere. They buy stuff and go places and read magazine articles and join groups hoping that something will offer some relief, respite, and significance to life. They are looking for answers.

Academic philosophers talk about these answers in terms of stories. Every culture and religion has its own story, and most of the time culture and religion are closely connected. In our modern day, multi-culture, pluralistic world each person is coached to meld a story that works for them from whatever parts and pieces they like from all the options. Anyone can have any story they like as long as no one suggests that their story is the right story. Especially anathema is talk of there being only one story. The “one story that fits all” is scorned as the “metanarrative.”

David Wells defines the metanarrative as “an overarching structure that enables people to see the connections of its parts and where it’s all heading.” In other words, a metanarrative is a master story, a grand narrative, or a worldview. (Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World, p.74) It is a story about stories, encompassing and explaining all other ‘little stories.’ It is a worldview that provides a framework upon which an individual’s own experiences and thoughts may be ordered.

And the postmodern culture is at best skeptical about the possibility of one, true story for everyone and at worse our culture is antagonistic and hostile to the idea of the metanarrative.

Of course most people sitting at home in their Lazy Boy are not talking about a “metanarrative” or crafting a clear definition of their worldview. But this itself is a view of the world. And in fact, these people are just as busy trying to construct their own significance and meaning. Their story may be no bigger than the course of their commute, but it is their story. It is the way they look at and approach life, work, relationships, and the world. They include whatever they want and whatever they like into their story. Their story is also likely to be in constant flux since new options turn up around every corner . The only constant is that there are no causes, no crusades, no bigger pictures to fit into. There is nothing to live for except self, and there certainly is nothing to die for (since dying for yourself isn’t very beneficial). Wells describes it like this:

Postmoderns are no longer actors in a vast and unfolding drama. They are actors in their own petit dramas. We are but the pieces of confetti that flutter down, each on its own erratic course, none joined to the others but each making its own solitary way through the air. (p.250)

In other words, life apart from a big story is disconnected, weightless, and pointless.

Wells points out that the assumptions are the same for both the intellectual and the lay-thinker. Both live like there is not one, comprehensive worldview, there is no ultimate, final truth, and there is no meaningful purpose (p. 90). Both act like nothing is more important than themselves. Both are characters in a story that is no amazing story.

Christians, however, know there is a bigger picture. We believe that there is actually one, eternal, universal story–the metanarrative–that explains everything in the world and that explains where everything is going. It sheds light on every event in history, every physical phenomenon in our bodies, it accounts for good and evil, it reveals why some are in power and why others are oppressed by that power.

Our story explains it all and where it is all going and the purpose behind it all. We know that this is a really great story, in fact, it’s The Amazing Story.

The Amazing Story

Having no story is no good. But as believers we have no need to grope for a good story. In fact, we are already part of an amazing story. We are part of God’s eternal, infinite Love Story.

So what is our “bigger picture,” the Christian metanarrative, God’s love story? Who are the principal characters? And where do we learn about our story?

The last question is easiest for us to answer. Our story has been revealed in God’s book: the Bible. But surprisingly, many who read the same story reach different conclusions. For example, the key players in the grand story are not the ones billed in the church over the last hundred years or so. We’ve been mislead to think that men are at center stage, but that’s not where they belong. And the bigger picture is not about the salvation of sinners primarily, though that is certainly part of the story line. It is an eternal love story, but not like we typically think.

The amazing story is first and foremost about the glory of the triune God. The three Persons of the Trinity have the title roles. And the entire plot revolves around the infinite, eternal love of the Father for His Son. The biblical panorama puts God on display, not men. Too often we get it backward.

Undoubtedly someone is raising their hand to protest, “But what about John 3:16?” or something similar. “God so loved the world that He sent His Son.” There is no question that God loves the world, but His love for the world is not His first love. The Father’s love for the Son came first and provides the strategic motivation not only for creation but also for redemption.

I remember the first time I ever read this. In the summer of 1996 a friend of mine gifted me with John MacArthur’s commentary on Titus. (You can also read an updated and extended account in MacArthur’s forward to A Long Line of Godly Men.) It was normal for me in those days to read a commentary like any other book, so I started on page one. And it wasn’t too long before my understanding of the Christian metanarrative got a major adjustment. The eyes of my heart were opened and my worldview reshaped in Paul’s greeting.

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

Verse 2 includes an intriguing phrase, namely that God promised eternal life before the ages began (ESV). The NAS translates the same phrase, “long ages ago,” but that is a bit misleading. That gives the impression that God made this promise of eternal life a long time ago in the Old Testament. And while there is no doubt that God revealed His promise of eternal life in the OT to Abraham and Moses and David and the prophets, that is not the meaning of the phrase.

The original phrase, πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων, refers to the time prior to creation and therefore previous to the Old Testament. That’s why the KJV translates it, “before the world began,” and even the NIV gets one right with “before the beginning of time.” The promise was made when the world did not yet exist and during the time before time.

So that prompts the pivotal question: to whom did God make this promise of eternal life? The world was not in existence. Men had not been created. So who existed with God before the ages began? The answer is His Son! All three Persons of the Trinity exist eternally and this promise of eternal life was a promise the Father made to the Son. Obviously the Father wasn’t promising the Son that the Son Himself would have eternal life, but the Father promised that a group from every tribe, tongue, and nation would have eternal life through and for the Son.

Let’s investigate this promise a bit more. What was happening before the world was created? The Trinity was writing the story of salvation in the eternal counsels, and the promise of eternal life included election.

2 Timothy 1:9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

God called us, believers, before the ages began (the exact same Greek phrase as Titus 1:2). In fact, He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4-5). In eternity past the Father was choosing a people and promising to redeem them as a gift for His Son.

But this is a costly gift, and the purchase involved Christ’s death on the cross. To fulfill His part of this eternal covenant, the Son agreed to deliver the elect by His own blood.

Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

So before the world or mankind was ever created, the Father chose to express His great love by promising His Son a redeemed people who would love and serve and glorify the Son forever. These were hand selected by the Father for that very purpose, which is why their names are written in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8, 17:8).

And again, the Son also has a responsibility in this covenant: to shed His blood on their behalf. The Son agreed to lay down His life, to die as a substitute for their sin. He consecrated His life for all whom the Father gave Him (John 17:19).

This is the precise group of people that Jesus referred to as His mission. For example, in John 6 He identified this group as His purpose for coming.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

Before time, the Father elected a group of people to give to His Son as a love gift, as an expression of His infinite love for His Son. The Father makes the promise and does the choosing. The Son gives His life for theirs.

We look in on a piece of this eternal plan in John 10, where specifically the imagery of a shepherd with his sheep is used to describe the relationship Jesus has to His people. We’re reminded in verse 29 that the sheep are given to the Son by the Father. And back in verses 11 and 15 Jesus explains His role, the Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep that they might have life and have it abundantly (v.10).

Now this is a story! This is a big, eternal, love story. But the story is not first or foremost about the love of the Shepherd for the sheep, though that is true and historic. This is a love story about the eternal, infinite love between the Father and the Son. MacArthur puts it this way:

It is astonishing to consider that those who are redeemed are caught up in this magnificent eternal covenant that two members of the Godhead have made with each other in order to demonstrate the infinite scope of their love for each other. (Titus, p.12)

This is the kind of thing that gets us out of bed in the morning. This metanarrative explains the purpose for everything. Better than that, this is the kind of thing that guarantees we’ll be spending every morning for a trillion times a trillion years with Christ if we are one of His sheep.

But don’t miss the point of the story. The reason this particular group was chosen is not because they were inherently valuable as a gift, but because the Son was infinitely valuable to receive the gift. Salvation is about something far greater than our personal happiness, better marriages, more obedient kids, or vocational fulfillment. We have done a poor job of knowing our story–which is really His story, of knowing our place in His story, and we’ve certainly done a lousy job of communicating and celebrating His story.

We’ve mangled the story so much that most of the time we present the key characters as the sheep. We talk like the sheep are so precious. The sheep are so beloved. The sheep are so special. Actually, the sheep are so stupid. In our (perhaps well-intentioned) enthusiasm to see others trust Christ and have this blood-bought eternal life, we tend to minimize the God parts, the eternal parts, and the sovereign parts because we’re afraid people won’t be interested in a story where they aren’t at the center. We try to evangelize and grow churches by telling men that they are the reason, the center, and the goal of God’s work. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”

But they can get a man-centered story anywhere. “Choose your own adventure” stories are retailed by every religion, sold by psychologists, advertised by professionals, hawked by educators, and sadly peddled in most churches. Everywhere we turn in our culture there is another man-centered story to choose from. What the lost can’t get is the truth. What they can’t get is something bigger and more meaningful then their little life-dramas. They need to hear the church proclaiming the truth of the gospel, the eternal love story of redemption. People are parched for it, even if they don’t know what exactly they’re thirsty for. May God help us to get our story straight.

The Good Shepherd

John 10:22-30 provides a small peak into this eternal covenant with the curtains pulled back by Jesus Himself. Here we see Good Shepherd is at the center of the Amazing Story.

The Setting

This is the end of John’s presentation of Jesus’ public ministry. We’re at the end of three years of Jesus’ traveling, preaching, miracle working, and confronting.

John 10:22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

This answers the where and the when. The “where” was the temple, in particular the colonnade of Solomon which was a row of columns supporting a roof, located on the east side of the temple overlooking the Kidron Valley. It would have provided a bit of shelter during bad weather. (We read about this very same location in Acts 3:11 and 5:12 when the apostles preached there.)

The “when” was the Feast of Dedication. The “Feast of Dedication” was not established by the OT. It is connected with an inter-testamental event, namely that in 167 BC Antiochus Epiphanes ransacked Jerusalem and polluted the temple. During this time it was a capital offense to possess a copy of the law or to circumcise a son. Within a few years the Jews grew strong enough to revolt and under the leadership of Judas Maccabaeus they recaptured the temple on 25 Kislev (December) 164 BC.

The people celebrated the rededication of the temple for eight days, and it was decreed that a similar eight day feast of dedication was to be held every year. This is Hanukkah. It was also called the Feast of Lights because of the lighting of lamps not only in the temple but in individual homes.

This is probably two months after verse 21, since the events from 7:1-10:21 took place around the Feast of Booths or the end of October. This is the last time we see Jesus in Jerusalem before His return for Passover in the spring when He will be killed.

It is ironic that the very Feast the Jews were celebrating was part of their story. They were awaiting the fulfillment of temple worship, the Messiah, but they missed the fact that Jesus was the fulfillment of the feast. Their story involved national and political deliverance so that life would be better. God’s story was of deliverance from sin so to eternal life as a gift for His Son. Their story was close, but they misunderstood God’s story.

The Question

24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

I think the so is an interesting way to begin the verse. It’s a “therefore.” Because Jesus was walking in the temple the Jews gathered around Him. The idea of gathered is that they circled around Him, they hemmed Him in. It’s like they see their opportunity, because there is no mention of any crowds. For that matter, even the disciples aren’t mentioned though it’s likely they were near. Now the Jews can have it out with Him without a friendly multitude to protect Him.

And they challenge Him. They demand from Him an answer. We get the idea that they were ready to take immediate, decisive, and hostile action against Jesus depending on His answer (especially since in verse 31 they take up stones to stone Him).

The Answer

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my sheep.

For all the building of suspense Jesus says, “I already told you.” They came looking for a fight and Jesus says they should know better. And though He hadn’t verbally announced that He was the Messiah publicly, He had told a few individuals (like the Samaritan woman in 4:26 and the man born blind in 9:35). But more than that, His very works corroborated everything concerning His person and His office as Messiah. Those with ears to hear and eyes to see did hear and see. But the only thing clearly obvious to these Jews was that they did not believe. Yet problem was not lack of revelation, but their spiritual condition which caused them to reject His words and His works.

And notice Jesus explanation of their unbelief in verse 26. It’s not “You are not part of my sheep because you don’t believe.” It’s the exact opposite cause and effect. You do not believe because you are not part of My sheep.

I think this is actually the point of this paragraph. There is more to it, but the primary significance is that Jesus is explaining why some don’t believe the story. Recognizing who Jesus is is not something available to all, but only to the sheep. “The knowledge of Christ is not the natural possession of any man. Faith is always a gift of God” (Morris, p.520). As D.A. Carson put it, “Their massive unbelief is not surprising, it is to be expected, and falls under the umbrella of God’s sovereignty.”

Then in verses 27-30 Jesus contrasts those who are not His sheep with those who are.

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Jesus’ identity is self-authenticating when the sheep hear His voice. They have no doubt about who He is. This is a great picture, and more of it is detailed at the beginning of the chapter. But the idea is probably of a pen owned by a few families, some distance from their houses. These families would share the cost of the pen and the duties of watching the sheep by putting their different flocks together. The picture is of the shepherd coming to the pen and knowing his sheep and his sheep knowing him. They have a relationship. More than that, the sheep are His before He calls.

And the story of the Good Shepherd and His sheep includes eternal security. Of course, the very idea of eternal life means that it must be secure; eternal life does not end. But the key to security is not our hold of Christ but His hold of us.

The fact of their security is made in verse 28, no one will snatch them out of my hand. The certainty of their security is described in verse 29, no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

The sheep did nothing to earn their eternal life, nor can they do something to lose it. The certainty of the sheep’s salvation is entirely dependent on something outside of themselves, or rather Someone. Jesus does not fail in His eternal mission. His assignment was to save (and preserve) all those given to Him by the Father.

30 I and the Father are one.”

The mission of the Son is part of the plan of the Father.

And, don’t forget the response of the Jews in verses 31-39, as they picked up stones to stone Him. They didn’t like His story.

Calvinism as a Nickname for the Amazing Story

Let me make Four observations about the relationship between the Shepherd and His Sheep.

First, the sheep are chosen by the Father for the Shepherd. The Father chose them, elected them. John 10:29, “My Father who has given them to me.” This is an arranged marriage between the Son and His bride, the church.

Second, the sheep are delivered by the death of the Shepherd. John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” Verse 15, “I lay my life down for the sheep.” His sacrifice was specific. It was not for someone else’s sheep or for the goats or the thieves. Jesus agreed to His part of the covenant on behalf of those chosen by the Father for Him.

Third, the sheep are drawn by the Spirit to follow the Shepherd. True, the Spirit isn’t mentioned specifically in John 10, but look at the phrase, “My sheep hear My voice.” How is that possible? Look back at John 6:37: “All that the Father gives to me will come to me.” Then look in verse 44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” We know from the rest of the NT that the Father sends the Spirit to do His drawing. Perhaps Jesus doesn’t mention the Spirit yet because the Spirit hadn’t come yet. But this is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey My rules” (Ezekiel 36:27). The third person of the Trinity has a crucial role as well.

Fourth, the sheep are kept by the power of the Shepherd. Of course this is in perfect union with the Father, and for that matter, it is practically worked out through the Spirit.

Now if we could add one more observation at the beginning you may recognize a pattern. Perhaps if we added something like: the sheep are totally depraved without the Shepherd. Do you see the pattern? It’s the Five Points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. This is the story; this is the gospel, and Calvinism is just a nickname. But the emphasis is on God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, saving sinners for God’s glory.

When we tell the story with men at the center, that is actually a different story altogether.

Some people suggest that even if this is all true, it’s not really that beneficial. But Jesus didn’t think it was unhelpful. In fact, Jesus taught this to unbelievers, and hostile unbelievers at that. The truth of God’s eternal sovereignty in salvation is a cause for celebration for those who believe. Peace and hope and awe is increased for the Christian when he understands Calvinism. But Calvinism is also an explanation of our world and a motivation to preach. Go back to Titus 1.

Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

God promises eternal life to His elect. He brings His elect to faith through knowledge of the truth. And He brings knowledge of truth through the preaching of His Word. The good story is not just good information, the good story itself is effective to save people. Our doxology and our evangelism are the same story.

Conclusion

Before we go tonight I want to entreat unbelievers to consider that the gospel of John was written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in His name. Of course, we know that if you do believe that is because you have been chosen by the Father in eternity past not because you are valuable, but because His Son is valuable. And if you believe, you can know that the Son laid down His life for yours and the Spirit effectually called you to this eternal life in the gospel. You can be saved, but your salvation is part of something much bigger than you.

And I also want to remind believers that we will have contact with many who see Jesus and see His ministry and His miracles and His teaching in Scripture who will not believe. But this is no surprise to God, nor should it be to us. The reason for their unbelief is either because God hasn’t called them yet or because are not one of His sheep. Of course, we don’t know what He knows so we just keep proclaiming the gospel anyway. But His sheep know Him, they know His voice, and they follow Him.

The eternal and infinite love of the Father for the Son is not one of many good stories. It is the only story, whether people embrace it or not, and it is the only good story, good in it’s provision of eternal life for us and glorious as it reveals the infinite love of the Trinity. Our responsibility is to confront our culture with the only life giving story of the Gospel as a framework for all existence. This story is real, revealed, and to be remembered, rehearsed, and recited by the people of God (Wells, p.172).

God’s inbreaking, saving, vanquishing rule is His from first to last. It has no human analogs, no duplicates, no surrogates, allows of no human synergism. (p.214)

This is His amazing story. We’re to busy proclaiming this story while waiting for the next chapter, “Come, Lord Jesus!”